Artificial line bridge subscriber dial long line equipment tester

ABSTRACT

A unitary circuit for testing dial long line equipment in a telephone subscriber system having a central office. A resistance bridge operative to provide an equally divided predetermined resistance to balance tip and ring in the telephone system is used to simulate the operation of a cable pair in a long line. Switch means selectively connect the resistance bridge to the dial long line equipment under test, and dialing means are utilized for dialing into or out of the testing circuit to interpose said predetermined resistance between a subscriber connected to the dial long line equipment under test and the central office to determine if the dial long line equipment under test is in acceptable operating condition to service the subscriber.

United States Patent Daniell ARTIFICIAL LINE BRIDGE SUBSCRIBER DIAL LONG LINE EQUIPMENT TESTER Inventor:

Filed:

Gerald Wallace Daniell, P. O. Box

984, 315 W. McLendon Circle, La Grange, Ga. 30240 June 29, 1971 Appl. No.: 158,010

U.S. Cl. 179/l75.3, l79/175.31 R Int. Cl. H041) 3/46 Field of Search 179/175, 175.] R,

179/l75.3, 175.2 'B, 17 B, 175.31 R

References Cited lJNlTED STATES PATENTS l/l923 8/1957 l/l924 10/1923 2/1959 Whiting 179/l75.l R.

Dunlap 179/17 'E DIAL Lowe LINE JIL EQUIP EEUP a TERMINAL 350m TEST 5 Primary Examiner--William C. Cooper Assistant ExaminerDouglas W. Olms Attorney-Edward S. lrons, Mary Helen Sears.

Harry John Staas, et a1.

[57] ABSTRACT A unitary circuit for testing dial long line equipment in a telephone subscriber system having a central office. A resistance bridge operative to provide an equally divided predetermined resistance to balance tip and ring in the telephone system is used to simulate the operation of a cable pair in a long line. Switch means selectively connect the resistance bridge to the dial long line equipment under test, and dialing means are utilized for dialing into or out of the testing circuit to interpose said predetermined resistance between a subscriber connected to the dial long line equipment under test and the central office to determine if the dial long line I equipment under test is in acceptable operating condition to service the subscriber.

4 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures CENTRAL OFFICE EQUIPMENT aten ted June 19, 1973 CENTRAL OFFICE EQUIPMENT (SUBSCRIBER LINE) FIG? INVENTOR GERALD WALLACE DANIELL B wm 0. W T QM J M W WM f W.

ARTIFICIAL LINE BRIDGE SUBSCRIBER DIAL LONG LINE EQUIPMENT TESTER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION into subscriber service. The circuit is also designed to test dial long line equipment connected to a subscribers line, without interfering with the subscriber.

Dial long line equipment such as a booster or repeater is often connected to telephone lines to compensate for line resistance. Applicant makes use of an artificial line bridge and telephone comprising a single 1. Field of the Invention 5 unit which is added to the central office equipment for The invention relates to an artificial line bridge unit testing dial long line equipment under simulated operfor testing sub-scriber dial long line equipment and has ating conditions. particular utility for use in telephone systems. The circuit according to applicants invention is 2. Description of the Prior Art 7 shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings. FIG. 1 in- The prior art discloses the use of artificial lines to 10 eludes resistance bridge 51 which comprises a rotary simulate actual resistive characteristics of equipment switch connected in double pole manner having eleven used in dial long line subscriber systems. Thus, Whiting different positions, with seven resistors shown con- U.S. Pat. No. 1,422,455 relates to a telephone circuit nected between adjacent switch positions. The T-pole for testing the transmission of electrical apparatus portion of Switch S1 iS the tip Side Of the l ne and the wherein the repeater circuit to be tested includes an ar- 1 portion is the g Side Of the linee res tifi i l fi h i an impedance hi h may b dtance bridge arrangement of switch S1 divides the resisjusted to a value corresponding to the impedance of the tahee q y on either Side of the line to balance P line with which the repeater is to be used. The prior art and ring, Similarly to the Operation Ofa cable, p The also teaches the use of a line bridge for use in telephone artificial building-out of the telephone using the circuits (note Bennett et 1 Pat No 3,430,609) tificial line bridge of applicants invention simulates the and the use of indicating lamps in conjunction with fperatioh of an acme] cable P and eh the test telephone line testing equipment (Semon U.S. Pat. No. mg of telephone equlpmeht for determlhlhg Whether of 3,350,515) not it is suitable for service.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE b The resistance values shown for resistors connected etwcen ad acent switch positions are typical. How- The pri r r does h w disclose the use of ever, applicants invention is not limited to these values an artificial line bridge and telephone built into a single d i h l b understood that Switch positions hayunit to add to the central office equipment for testing ing n0 resistors connected therebetween may be used said equipment under simulated operating conditions. to accommodate other resistors to provide desired re- These and other disadvantages of the prior art are sistance values when artificially building-out a line. solved by the instant invention wherein an integral unit FIG. 1 also shows ringer l for incoming calls. Recorhaving an artificial line and telephone built into one v dation of the ringing current of incoming calls may be unit is provided, for addition to central olfice equipprovided by the neon lamp circuits shown in FIGS. 2 ment to test said equipment under simulated operating and 3. FIG. 2 illustrates neon lamps L1 through L4, conditions. The artificial line bridge unit of applicants each having a series connected diode and resistor concircuit provides means for dialing in or out and may be nected to its cathode element, with its anode element used to test the operability of working dial long line cirbeing connected to ground. If the circuit of FIG. 2 is cuits as well as the ability of central office equipment connected in the circuit of FIG. 1 by connection of to supply sufficient ringing current. complementary terminals X1 through X4, ringer 1 will BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWNGS: ring on all incoming calls or codes and the neon lamp circuit L1 through L4 will identify the polarity of the FIG. 1 is an electrical schematic diagram of the cirringing current Ring, 2 Ring, Tip, Tip, cuit of applicants Artificial Line Bridge Subscriber +1 Ring, +2 Ring, +1 Tip and +2 Tip. Each neon lamp Dial Long Line Equipment Tester; circuit having the described series connection of a 2 is an electrical schematic diagram ofa circuit diode and resistor will thereby be connected in series that may be utilized in conjunction with the circuit of with the ringer circuit to tip or ring For example, with 1 to determine P y of pp g g respect to an eight-party line or a four-party line the rents; following relationships are available:

PARTIES l 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 POLARITY R -T +R T R T +R +T PARTIES 1&2 3&4 5&6 7&8 POLARITY 1 Ring 1 Ring 2 Rings 2 Rings FIG. 3 is an electrical schematic diagram of another The neon lamp circuit of FIG. may be connected circuit that may be'utilized in conjunction with the cirto 1 y Connection of complementary terminalscuit of FIG. 1 to determine the polarity of applied ring- Y1 and Y2 and consists of two heoh lamps L5 and L6 m currents having associated series connected resistors and no div odes. The circuit of FIG. 3 will thereby only identify DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE Tip parties and Ring parties non polarized ApplicantS invention relates to. test equipment for The artificial line bridge unit of applicants invention testing y yp ofdial g line equipment used in tele' provides means for dialing in or out. The structure of Phone systeme h is intended that h testing of Such jack J3 is conventional in the art and a standard dial dial long line equipment occur prior to its placement test Set may b plugged i j k 3 to i through bridge S1. Alternatively, switch S2 may be actuated to the closed position to use dial apparatus 2 with the artificial line bridge unit for testing purposes. Jacks 12L and JZR are operative to test working dial long line circuits by connection thereof through a test lead to the cable pair of the working dial long line circuit under test. If switch S3 is then in the open position, and a ground cord is connected to jack J4, the circuits of FIGS. 2 or 3 are completed to ground. Ringer 1 will thus ring because it is connected across tip and ring.

If a resistance equal to the line resistance of the cable pair is provided by proper setting of switch S1, and a telephone is employed to dial the number associated with that cable pair, the ringing current will be supplied from the central office side of jacks ML and HR through resistance bridge S1 to the diode that will accept that particular ringing current (assuming that the circuit of FIG. 2 is connected to the circuit of FIG. 1). The corresponding neon lamp will be activated, ringer 1 will ring, and the polarity of the ringing currentwill be identified. This described connection will also test the central office equipment for its ability to supply a sufficient ringing current through the set resistance of resistance bridge S1.

In order to test free dial long line equipment, a lead is inserted into jacks JlL and HR, with the other end of the lead being connected to the equipment under test. Another lead is connected to a group and terminal, with its end plug connected into jack J5. Another plug is used to connect a hand test set into jack J3, and operation of the talk key of the transmitter of the hand test set will put a short on the tip and ring through resistance bridge S1, through the jack JIR to the dial long line equipment, back through the jack JlL, and back out through jack J5 to the group and terminal, and the.

dial tone is thus heard. With the resistance bridge S1 and the dial long line circuit thus connected in series, a code ring is dialed to ring back into the artificial line bridge. This will test the components of the dial long line circuit to see if the latter is suitable for subscriber service.

Pushbutton switch S4 is connected as a substitute for a coin in testing coin box trunks and coin, dial long line equipment. When activated to its operative position, it interposes fixed resistance R7 between ground and the tip side of the line to operate the coin trunk of the central office equipment.

A dummy plug can be made with the two tips shorted together and inserted into jacks J 1L and HR for testing other types of equipment when not using standard cords. Such a dummy plug will bridge the two sleeves (S) and the two tips (T) ofjacks 111.. and 11R, with jack J5 being used for other testing purposes. Other combi nations of cord and plugs can be utilized in conjunction with the described jacks for other testing purposes without departing from the scope of the invention. The unit according to the invention comprises a housing with the jacks, switches and neon lamps mounted therein to provide an integral unit.

I claim:

1. A test apparatus for testing the signalling conditions of telephone subscriber circuits having cable pairs connected thereto, and which may be connected to dial long line equipment for offsetting losses caused by the resistance of the cable pairs, the telephone subscriber circuits being connected to a central office exchange, comprising:

a resistance bridge operative to provide an equally divided predetermined resistance to balance tip and ring in a selected telephone subscriber circuit to simulate the operation of an actual cable pair therein,

a ringing means responsive to applied ringing signals to provide an audible indication thereof,

visual indicating means responsive to applied ringing signals to provide an indication of the polarities thereof,

a telephone dial device,

first switch means selectively actuable to test dial long line circuits actually connected to telephone subscriber circuits by connecting the ringing means to a selected such dial long line circuit across tip and ring, causing the ringing circuit to ring if the selected dial long line circuit is operational,

second switch means selectively actuable to connect the resistance bridge having a predetermined resistance equal to that of the cable pair of a selected telephone subscriber circuit to the central office through the telephone dial device, whereby said telephone dial device, when used to dial the number corresponding to the selected telephone subscriber circuit, causes a corresponding ringing signal to ring back from the central office through the resistance bridge to the ringing means and the visual indicating means to identify the polarity of the ringing current and determine if the central office equipment is supplying a sufficient ringing current for the selected telephone subscriber circuit,

third switch means selectively actuable to cause a dial test set to establish a series connection between the resistance bridge and a selected free dial long line circuit, whereby a dial code from the dial test set will cause a ringing signal to ring back into the resistance bridge, and be applied to the ringing means, to provide an indication of the suitability of the selected free dial long line circuit for subscriber service.

2. In the test apparatus as recited in claim 1 wherein the resistance bridge, ringing means, visual indication means, telephone dial device, and first, second and third switch means are included within an integral housing unit.

3. In the test apparatus as recited in claim 1 further comprising: fourth switch means actuable to connect the test apparatus to coin box trunks and coin dial long line equipment, to enable testing thereof.

4. In the test apparatus as recited in claim 3 wherein the resistance bridge, ringing means, visual indication means, telephone dial device, and first, second, third, and fourth switch means are included within an integral housing unit. 

1. A test apparatus for testing the signalling conditions of telephone subscriber circuits having cable pairs connected thereto, and which may be connected to dial long line equipment for offsetting losses caused by the resistance of the cable pairs, the telephone subscriber circuits being connected to a central office exchange, comprising: a resistance bridge operative to provide an equally divided predetermined resistance to balance tip and ring in a selected telephone subscriber circuit to simulate the operation of an actual cable pair therein, a ringing means responsive to applied ringing signals to provide an audible indication thereof, visual indicating means responsive to applied ringing signals to provide an indication of the polarities thereof, a telephone dial device, first switch means selectively actuable to test dial long line circuits actually connected to telephone subscriber circuits by connecting the ringing means to a selected such dial long line circuit across tip and ring, causing the ringing circuit to ring if the selected dial long line circuit is operational, second switch means selectively actuable to connect the resistance bridge having a predetermined resistance equal to that of the cable pair of a selected telephone subscriber circuit to the central office through the telephone dial device, whereby said telephone dial device, when used to dial the number corresponding to the selected telephone subscriber circuit, causes a corresponding ringing signal to ring back from the central office through the resistance bridge to the ringing means and the visual indicating means to identify the polarity of the ringing current and determine if the central office equipment is supplying a sufficient ringing current for the selected telephone subscriber circuit, third switch means selectively actuable to cause a dial test set to establish a series connection between the resistance bridge and a selected free dial long line circuit, whereby a dial code from the dial test set will cause a ringing signal to ring back into the resistance bridge, and be applied to the ringing means, to provide an indication of the suitability of the selected free dial long line circuit for subscriber service.
 2. In the test apparatus as recited in claim 1 wherein the resistance bridge, ringing means, visual indication means, telephone dial device, and first, second and third switch means are included within an integral housing unit.
 3. In the test apparatus as recited in claim 1 further comprising: fourth switch means actuable to connect the test apparatus to coin box trunks and coin dial long line equipment, to enable testing thereof.
 4. In the test apparatus as recited in claim 3 wherein the resistance bridge, ringing means, visual indication means, telephone dial device, and first, second, third, and fourth switch means are included within an integral housing unit. 